Milbury facing charges in minor hockey incident

Analyst will not appear on HNIC, NBC Sports broadcasts for immediate future

Brookline (Mass.) police reportedly are seeking charges of assault and battery on a child, threatening to commit a crime, and disorderly conduct against Hockey Night in Canada analyst Mike Milbury.
(Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

Mike Milbury will not appear on Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast as he faces charges after allegedly grabbing and shaking a 12-year-old minor hockey player who was playing against his son last week in Massachusetts.

According to the Boston Globe, Brookline police are seeking charges of assault and battery on a child, threatening to commit a crime, and disorderly conduct.

"CBC Sports spoke with Mike late this afternoon," CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson said in a statement Friday. "After a good discussion, we both decided that he won't be part of Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts while he focuses on his personal situation."

Milbury and NBC Sports have also agreed that the former Bruins player and coach not appear on its hockey broadcasts for the immediate future.

The alleged incident occurred on Dec. 9 during a peewee game at Jack Kirrane Ice Skating Rink at Larz Anderson Park, where Milbury was serving as assistant coach for his son's team, the Boch Blazers. The 59-year-old Milbury allegedly grabbed and shook an opposing player who was in an altercation with his son.

In a statement, Milbury's lawyer Dan Rabinovitz denied the allegations of assault, saying his client simply intervened in an altercation between his son and an opposing player.

"No one was struck, no one was injured and no one was threatened," the release said.

Brookline Police Captain Thomas Keaveney told the Globe it is alleged there was talk back and forth between Milbury's son and the 12-year-old opponent that led to Milbury stepping on the ice and grabbing the youngster.

According to Keaveney, Milbury allegedly grabbed the boy by his shirt collar, picked him up and shook him before other coaches intervened and broke it up.

While the 12-year-old boy wasn't injured, Keaveney said police opened an investigation after receiving a call the next day from a parent who claimed to have witnessed the incident.

Keaveney told the newspaper that it's his understanding that Milbury is out of town but would be summoned for a hearing before a clerk magistrate at Brookline District Court to determine if there is probable cause for charges to go forward.

Milbury joined HNIC as a commentator in 2008, and spent nearly three decades in the NHL as coach, player and general manager.